Removed a hive from a garage that was in between ceiling joists and a 2x12 section. Cut the sheetrock out to remove them as the exterior was brick one side stucco the other. Before I get started I notice a swarm in the neighbor's tree about 15' up. Never got a chance to talk to neighbor but customer did and said the guy likes bees and he's a bee person whatever that is. Maybe he has antenne or stripes on his butt end, I don't know. Customer says neighbor will handle it, but we'll see.

I cut the sheetrock and drop it down and expose a nice little hive, that filled a deep and then some. The first thing I see is a swarm cell and the queen in that cell is piping away. The bees were workin' that cell over and I thought she'd be out any moment, but never did see it happen.

Had one comb section with two queen cells next to each other whereby the queens had emerged. I was thinking that one of those queens could be in the swarm on the tree.

Got it done, nice bees and got a queen, either a virgin or thinned down queen, I'm thinking virgin cause she was kinda small. The bees weren't real interested in her at first. I took several pics of her. Now you need to really look closely to see her, she's the one with the black bald spot, antenne sticking out and smaller eyes than the drone's and she's ringed. The differences are subtle but she is different if you look good, you'll pick her out. Nothing to write home about but a queen she is nonetheless.

Those whiny types, gotta watch 'em. My bees overall are doing pretty well. Just trying to keep up with everything you know. Its been one heck of a season, already. How are yours doing? And glad to see your bees tested negative for ahb.

JP, wow, another great job!!! I love to look at these pictures that come to my eyes, I could probably sit all day and look at pictures of what people are up to. I saw that queen right away.

It is funny how the queens amongst the bees are usually so visible. Almost every queen that I see has that large bald thorax, that is how I find my queens, look for that thorax with no hair, no wonder it is so easy to mark queens. I am going to try to have all my queens marked this year.

My biggest quandry right now is how on earth does one mark the queens that they buy when they are in their queen cage. I am going to get a thread going on this cause I need to know.

JP, keep on keepin' on, I love to see your pictures and what you are up to, interesting and wonderful stuff, now I gotta go and let the chickens out, and see how is Whoppo's attitude this early morning. Have a wonderfully awesome and beautiful day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

JP, wow, another great job!!! I love to look at these pictures that come to my eyes, I could probably sit all day and look at pictures of what people are up to. I saw that queen right away.

It is funny how the queens amongst the bees are usually so visible. Almost every queen that I see has that large bald thorax, that is how I find my queens, look for that thorax with no hair, no wonder it is so easy to mark queens. I am going to try to have all my queens marked this year.

My biggest quandry right now is how on earth does one mark the queens that they buy when they are in their queen cage. I am going to get a thread going on this cause I need to know.

JP, keep on keepin' on, I love to see your pictures and what you are up to, interesting and wonderful stuff, now I gotta go and let the chickens out, and see how is Whoppo's attitude this early morning. Have a wonderfully awesome and beautiful day, Cindi

Hey guys I went back to the house where I removed that hive yesterday and saw the bee person guy and was able to get that swarm outta his tree. They were probably about 17' up. I added these pics to a new album containing pics of another swarm I caught today in Marrerohttp://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus/March162008

Piping is the sound an emerging or newly emerged queen makes to challenge any other queens in the hive. You can hear the sound for yourself on Wikipedia. There is an audio file under the listing "queen bee piping".

.....The greatest changes occur in their country without their cooperation. They are not even aware of precisely what has taken place. They suspect it; they have heard of the event by chance. More than that, they are unconcerned with the fortunes of their village, the safety of their streets, the fate of their church and its vestry. They think that such things have nothing to do with them, that they belong to a powerful stranger called “the government.” They enjoy these goods as tenants, without a sense of ownership, and never give a thought to how they might be improved.....

I just returned from my cutout it was horrible and nasty and I will post it later.

I just wanted you to know I am very jealous so I have reported all your pictures to Google as inappropriate content. ;) (joke)

I actually think it's fantastic keep going.

Sincerely,Brendhan

Brendhan, if things keep going the way they do, I'll need steroids to keep up! What a great problem to have, man I feel fortunate, some of the members on the forums report they've never seen a swarm or feral colony in yrs or their entire lives. I just can't imagine that.

Sorry your cut-out didn't go so well. As they say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. We must be gluttons for punishment 'eh? Later man.

Yeh, That WAS cool! I turned the speakers up high and my wife thought the sound was MENACING!..Like a "CRONE CACKLE" she says! Got anymore sounds Kimbrell?your friend,john

Hey John, tis the season man, I'm hearing piping like crazy here. Hope I didn't get you in trouble with the hellbent post, just having some fun! At your expense! Saw how I blamed you, huh! Payback is dish best served warm huh John!

hey, JP!...What're freinds for, right?Hey,...Whats that on the front of your shirt? :evil: "Finger shoots up the front of your shirt and bops your nose!(Gotcha!!) I'm ALWAYS up to being part of a good joke!she is kinda cute though!you friend, john

John, I am going to try to explain the piping of the queen a little deeper, it is also referred to in the ABC and XYZ as "the queen's voice". When a queen has newly emerged, she makes a sound that could be referred to as a death cry to the other queens that are still prisoners in their cells, quite often the other queens will respond to this "voice" the piping of the queen, but in a different tone.

The queen makes this sound by pressing her thorax against the frame and it causes a vibration, hence the sound. When the queen pipes, the bees temporarily freeze, and then resume operations.

The sound is fascinating. I have heard this sound a couple of times.

Abejaruco has made a post about a moth that mimics the sound of the queen when it enters to the honeybee colony to have a meal. This moth is remarkable, in that it has the ability to sound like the queen piping. This would cause the honeybees to stand still and think that there is a queen in the colony that has emerged, and they pay no mind to the moth.

It is amazing how creatures of this world evolve, and this moth has taken the trophy.

Hope that this may have cleared up the "queen's voice", maybe just a little bit more. Have a most beautiful and awesome day in this life. Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Hey guys I went back to the house where I removed that hive yesterday and saw the bee person guy and was able to get that swarm outta his tree. They were probably about 17' up. I added these pics to a new album containing pics of another swarm I caught today in Marrerohttp://picasaweb.google.com/pyxicephalus/March162008

...JP

JP, this post was so many posts ago, I thought I had better quote it so I could respond to it easier (see the body of the post you wrote).

Those were some pretty cool pictures, swarms certainly have the strangest shapes now don't they? Some nice work that you are doing there. Have a great and wonderful day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service

Brendhan, I am sorry to hear that the cutout was such a bummer, I can't wait to hear what happened, when are you going to post it? Maybe I missed it and it is in another thread, haven't looked at all the threads tonight. Best of this wonderful and beautiful day, Cindi

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There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold. The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold. The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee. Robert Service